“What about calls from the real estate woman in Belize?”
“There was a call from the real estate office to the Belize police to report the robbery, but I haven’t seen a police report issued yet. Everything I see tells me it’s been swept under the rug there.”
“Any new activity from Mashburn? Phone calls, credit card transactions?”
“There was one credit card transaction in Panama, and that’s it. No calls.”
Wade was pleased to hear that Mashburn wasn’t making calls or leaving a trail of credit card transactions.
Wade still had to make the call to Megan and wanted Yari’s assistance.
“I have a strange request.”
“The stranger the better.”
“I have a call coming up with someone from my agency. The call is being patched through a secure Agency line to a home phone. However, I’m not sure someone from the Agency won’t be eavesdropping. Can you set up a secure line that overrides an existing secure line patch?”
“That’s not a strange request. We call that a ‘double patch with encryption.’ What it means is that whoever’s listening to your call won’t be able to understand either side of the conversation. My encryption will override their patch. I’ll use my new encryption code. Did I tell you that no one here has been able to break it yet?”
“I think you mentioned that.”
“We do double patches all the time when we think our unfriendly foreign neighbors are listening to an agent’s call. Will you be calling from the number you’re on right now?”
“Yes, and I don’t want this number to be identified. The last thing I want is someone tracing calls from my cousin’s house.”
“Give me about twenty minutes to set everything up. You can make your call any time after that.”
“Great. Thanks, buddy.”
“What else do we need to be doing?”
“I’m waiting for a response from the State Department after my meeting yesterday. I don’t have any plans until I hear back from them. I need you to keep tracking the calls to our friends in Belize, though.”
“Got it. I’m all over those calls.”
“Thanks. We’ll talk soon.”
Wade was torn about his upcoming call to Megan. Despite his suspicions, he felt he had to make the call. After setting up the double patch with Yari, he picked up the phone, still unsure of what he was going to say.
It sounded like she’d been waiting by the phone. “Hello?”
“It’s me. I hope this is a convenient time to call.”
“I thought it might be you calling.”
He tried to make small talk. “How’s everything at work?”
“The same – busy.”
“I miss not talking to you every day.”
She coughed as if uncomfortable. “Well, there’s nothing preventing you from calling.”
“I know. I get distracted with other things, but you’re always on my mind. And sometimes when I call, you’re out on company business.”
“We’re both busy. So you were going to tell me a fish story.”
He cut to the chase. “Before we get into that, let me ask you something. I need a straight answer.”
“Sure. Haven’t I always given you straight answers?”
“Do you totally trust the Agency? I mean, are there any areas where you have suspicions?”
A long, awkward silence followed, until he thought he’d lost the connection, but he was relieved to hear her take a deep breath and let it out. It was clear that Megan was taking his question seriously – she hadn’t been expecting it and was clearly cautious about how she answered.
“Well, I don’t always agree with how the Agency handles things. Sometimes it does things that violate its own policies. But I can’t say I have any real suspicions. What exactly are you getting at?”
“You remember the sniper incident at Fort Benning?”
“Of course.”
“Well, some things have come out about that incident that may involve the Agency. Like the fact that they knew all about Lockhart. There were also some questionable drug operations going on in Vietnam that the Agency either knew about or sanctioned.”
“Where are you getting your information?”
“Let’s just say it came up during the Lockhart murder investigation.”
“You’re kidding! I didn’t know anything about that investigation. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I was told they weren’t sure who might be involved, and I was instructed to keep quiet.”
“Do they think either of us is somehow involved?”
“No. They didn’t say that. I’m just not sure all our communication channels with the agency are secure.”
There was a pause while Megan said nothing. The silence caused Wade to wonder what she was thinking.
“Is that the ‘fish’ story?”
“That’s part of it. I really can’t go into the rest right now. I hope you understand.”
“Do you feel safe?”
“I think so, but I’m not absolutely sure.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Nothing right now. I can’t let you get involved. You’re too close to the D.C. senior people who might be implicated. I can’t have you jeopardize your job – or worse, your life. I care about you.”
“Let me worry about my job. I can take care of myself. You should know that by now.”
“Right now, I just want you to trust me. I’m in the middle of something, and my survival instincts are dictating my every move.”
“I do trust you, but I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on. I know my way around the Agency, and I’m good at getting information about what Agency people know or don’t know. I had to learn that skill to survive here in order to do my job. If anyone should know that about me, you should.”
He stood up and paced the room before finally sitting down again. “I do know that. The problem with this incident is that it goes to the top of the Agency, and heads might start to roll if it gets any closer. Other than providing the investigators what they ask for, I’m trying to stay as far away from it as possible. The investigation has now taken on a life of its own and is out of my hands. We’ll just be collateral damage if we get too close.”
“I understand the risk. Just let me know what I can do to help.”
With Megan’s last comment, Wade had to decide how much he could trust her. The thought that Megan would risk her job and maybe her life made him sick with guilt. He also needed information that he knew Megan could probably obtain.
“I need to know which Agency operatives we can trust in and around Belize. But you have to make sure your inquiries can’t be traced back to you or me.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. What else do you need to know?”
“That’s all for right now. I’m still working on other angles.”
“The obvious question is why the country of Belize?”
He sighed, feeling his frustration level rise. “That’s precisely the question that will raise suspicions, and why you can’t ask it that way. So start with a list of agents in Central and South America and eliminate names in every country but Belize. Check the grapevine for background on the names you find. Don’t ask anyone at headquarters a direct question about Belize.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got your drift.” Megan understood the importance but still not the purpose of the secret mission Wade had just assigned her. “Where are you going to be when I get the information?”
“I’m back in Houston, staying at a relative’s house. I’ll contact you. I may be on the road. Just be careful how you source your information and make sure you use a secure line.”
“I know how to source information safely. Remember, we trained at the same facility.”
“I know. That’s what worries me. Those who taught us may well be the ones tapping the lines. Remember in the end the orders all come out of the same facility. ”
It bothered Wad
e that he hadn’t heard back from Jack Pisano about his call to the State Department. Wade decided to call Jake.
“Pisano here.”
“Hi, Jake, it’s Wade. Just wondering if you made that call to the State Department yet.”
“I’ve actually made two calls since I spoke with you. I had long talks with friends at the Feds in Washington, one from the FBI and another from the State Department about the Belize matter. The bottom line is that you’re in a jurisdictional quagmire.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Belize is a British protectorate – soon to be independent. Other than the partial use of their airbase, there are no U.S. assets in the country, and therefore no direct threat to U.S. assets or personnel. Both my contacts suggested you turn the matter over to the British consulate to handle.”
“What about the war games?”
“He didn’t see that as a direct threat to U.S. assets. Most assets in the war games are off-shore in international waters. In other words, before the State Department could get involved, there would have to be a direct threat to a U.S. command or embassy post, and you would need to be able to prove a specific threat.”
Jake paused to allow the message to sink in. “My State Department friend felt his department would become involved only if the threat was directed toward U.S. personnel or assets. In a friendly country like Belize, the U.S. would look to the U.K. or the Belize government to handle the matter directly.”
“No wonder we have such a screwed-up foreign policy.”
“He said he’d be happy to make an introduction to the U.K. Embassy in Belize if we had enough evidence. I told him to hold off until I could speak with you again.”
Wade could see political wheels spinning with no corresponding progress. He asked, “How do you think the embassy in Belize will respond?”
“My guess is they’ll probably do a memorandum. Belize has limited defense forces and relies heavily on the U.K.. Getting the U.K. involved raises the bar, and I don’t think you have enough specific evidence at this point. I’m afraid they’re going to want to know the what, when, and where about the threat, and especially who’s behind it.”
Wade thought about Jake’s questions and the lack of information he had at this time. He not only couldn’t answer the primary questions, he couldn’t reveal his source of information or his suspicions about his agency’s involvement. He would be laughed out of the briefing room, and if the Agency got wind of his chatter, he’d be fired or permanently terminated.
Jake finally broke the awkward silence. “I’m afraid all we could provide them with at this point is circumstantial evidence pointing to a possible plot.”
Wade acknowledged Jake’s point. “That’s the problem. No one is going to do anything with this, based on the information I have. You’re right about unconfirmed sources. I also can’t take the risk of disclosing my sources regarding Agency involvement in the Lockhart murder. At least we tried.”
Jake understood Wade’s dilemma. He’d been in these situations before. “I don’t like it any better than you do, but unfortunately, that’s where we are.”
Wade had another thought.
“Do you think your FBI friend might offer any assistance if we had more evidence?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s say I was able to get those black cases back here. Could he have them X-rayed and disarmed? If they turned out to be a threat, would he then take action?”
“I would have to ask him specifically about the cases. If the cases did contain a threat, the FBI might go through the same channels I described before. This would all take time, of course,”
“Let’s not raise the question about the cases just yet. I need to give it a little more thought.”
“Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“You were a great help. You gave me the answer I needed. It just wasn’t the answer I had hoped for. I appreciate it.”
“Let me know how it goes.”
“I sure will. Thanks.”
At that moment, Wade realized he wasn’t going to get the help he hoped for, anywhere else either. He could expect the same result from whatever intelligence sources Megan might find. Nobody except a few tourists were interested in a small, politically insignificant country surrounded by jungle and beautiful Caribbean beaches.
The well-armed armadas of the U.K., U.S., Canada, and Australia assembling off the coast of Belize were not being threatened as they played war games. There would be no concern that a few disruptive operatives could cause anything but a minor political embarrassment on shore.
Their scenario seemed ideal from a terrorist point of view. No need for them to confront heavy military assets on the water. A cleaner mission would involve the deaths of onshore civilians and dignitaries right under the nose of the world press. They would be in and out before anyone realized it or could respond. The night was restless as Wade tried to sleep with those thoughts circling in his head.
The next morning, Wade’s first wall was to his former training partner Max from the Fort Benning exercise. The overview Wade gave Max over the phone was enough motivation to arrange a meeting later that day in Houston.
As Max walked through the door, Wade rose, and the two exchanged warm greetings commonly shared by soldiers who haven’t been in contact for a long time.
“I’m glad you could make it. I didn’t want to say too much over the phone.”
“I heard enough to know that I’m in if you need me.”
“First tell me what you’ve been up to since Fort Benning.”
“After getting my Special Forces training, I had a tour of duty in Vietnam. After R & R leave I returned for a second tour, and I took a bullet in the thigh. I got shipped back to the U.S. and have been in rehab since then. But I’m in good shape now. I signed up for another tour in ‘Nam, but the doctors tell me I have to wait another three months before I can return. I work out hard every day and I’m usually at the range three times a day. I can’t stand not being in action.”
Wade was always impressed by Max’s attention to detail, willingness to take orders, and steadfast resolve in dangerous combat situations.
“I understand. I gave you a summary of this mission on the phone, but wanted to give you more details in person. We’re up against three, maybe four operatives. I’m trying to get more intel on them now from Yari. I think all the operatives are Intelligence or former military, trained in Russia or Europe.”
Max was still a little confused about what the Benning incident had to do with Belize. “So that Mashburn guy was the Lockhart killer, but he was never caught?”
“Right. He spilled his guts to me and I let him go because if I took him out, I’d have killed any chances of getting to the other operatives.”
“Do you know who or what their target is?”
“No. Not for sure. That’s the problem. The intel is sketchy. It’s probably the Prime Minister of Belize or one of the foreign dignitaries. ”
“Do you know when they’re scheduled to attack?”
“Not certain of that either. It’s probably scheduled for one of the ceremonies during the war games. I took two sniper rifles from Mashburn with a 5-power scope, in addition to some small 9 mm arms. Then there are these two black cases that Mashburn dropped at a cemetery in Belmopan. They look like explosives or other devices or weapons that are part of their mission.”
“Aside from Mashburn, do you know anything about the other operatives on this mission?”
Wade nodded. “The head guy is a German-trained assassin by the name of Stephan. There are three other operatives coming into the country as well. I don’t have a lead on who they are, but Yari is covering all communications between them. We should know more soon. Apparently Stephan is being handled by a former CIA operative who goes by the name of Condor. He’s out of Brussels.”
“Why is the CIA involved?”
“Not really sure. I can’t see any benefit to U.S. intere
sts. It’s a real strange mission. Not sure who’s running the mission or why. It could be Russia.”
“You mean this Condor guy is working for the Russians now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Unless the U.S. is somehow aware or backing it, I wouldn’t bet on this guy Condor living a very long life.”
“You’ve got that right.”
Max bit his lip in deep thought before he asked, “Do you have a plan?”
“I have a couple of ideas. We have to first ID the players – I want to know who we’re dealing with and who the likely target is. My guess is we’ll be reacting to the situation as we get new information.”
“Is it going to be just you and me?”
“It looks that way, my friend. We’ll need some equipment.”
“Not a problem. I can get pretty much whatever we need from the base as long as we can get it into and back out of the country.”
“I can take care of that. Let’s start making a list.”
The men continued their conversation for the next hour. Having both stalked that deadly sniper unarmed months before, they shared a brotherhood. That dark, perilous night at Fort Benning bonded the two men’s confidence that they could survive under fire or die knowing each had the other’s back.
Chapter 22
Belize City, Belize
The sea bags each man carried were heavy with equipment as Wade and Max entered the pilot’s lounge at Ellington. The copilot Wade had befriended on his last flight was checking items off a list.
At Wade’s approach, the copilot commented, “Well stranger, couldn’t resist another visit to the tropics, huh.”
“They keep sending me back. This time I’m taking a diving buddy and some scuba equipment. I’d like you to meet my cohort in crime here - Max. He works with me at the Agency.”
Max and the copilot exchanged greetings and handshakes.
The copilot turned to Wade and asked, “You going down to do more interviews?”
“Yeah, D.C. wants some follow-up interviews and a bunch of paperwork filled out.”
The copilot identified with Wade’s frustration. “Everything is paperwork around here.”
Lethal Authority (Wade Hanna Series Book 2) Page 19